Coco farmers now see ray of justice

It took some screeching and shouting. But all’s well that ends well. Coconut farmers are seeing the first ray of victory in their long, hard fight to reclaim the P130 billion levied from them by the Marcos regime. Things have started to move after 15 years of standstill.

The break came in the form of meetings of minds. One, among administration officials whose predecessors had wrangled over how to handle the case. Another, among congressmen from different parties. Their aims join: that the coconut levy is a public fund, and thus any out-of-court settlement that may be struck should not compromise the line; and that the money should be freed from escrow the soonest to benefit coconut farmers.

For years, the Presidential Commission on Good Government had differed with Malacañang lawyers on approaches. Because it had filed cases of ill-gotten wealth on the levy, the PCGG had always insisted on letting the courts decide any which way. That is, if the P130 billion would go to the farmers aligned under a dozen or so groups or to landlords under the Philippine Confederation of Coconut Planters (Coco-fed). Malacañang lawyers had been impatient. Pain-fully aware of government’s lack of funds for anti-poverty programs while the P130 billion lied in escrow waiting for court resolution, they sought deals that could put the money to instant use.

Meantime, coconut farmers were getting desperate. Court procedures were of no import to poor families who were growing hungrier by the day. More so in recent months, when copra prices kept sliding in world trading. Four groups sought help from Davao Bishop Fernando Capalla to strike an out-of-court and partial settlement with businessman Danding Cojuangco.

Part of the P130 billion had been used two decades ago to but 27 percent of San Miguel Corp., which Cojuangco now chairs. It was part of the suit that the PCGG had filed against him and Zamboanga Mayor Maria Clara Lobregat, Cocofed head. But the 27 percent, worth P57 billion, was a troublesome chunk of SMC shares tied up in a court case; Cojuangco would gladly see it resolved in a company he wants to run professionally. With Capalla, he persuaded Lobregat last Oct. 28 to sign a deal turning over the shares to a trust fund run by professional managers. Under the deal, farmers would get 40 percent of the interest earnings; Cocofed, 20 percent; and government, 25 percent. The managers would retain 15 percent for operations.

Norberto Gonzales, presidential adviser on special concerns, was satisfied with the signing he had helped prod with Dante Ang, personal publicist of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. He was a social democrat who had once led the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas in fighting the Marcos dictatorship. The groups that had signed the deal with Cojuangco and Lobregat were of the same ideology. They would be able to use their 40-percent share for projects to aid the impoverished farmers.

Problem is, their deal needed presidential approval in the form an executive order. Such order was to be drafted by Presidential Chief Legal Counsel Avelino Cruz. Gut feel told him it needed deeper study. Criminal and civil cases were pending before the Sandiganbayan. Then, there was another case in the Supreme Court to have the P130 billion declared as public fund. Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo called Solicitor General Sonny Marcelo and PCGG officials to a meeting. In mid-November, they agreed that whatever out-of-court settlement the President would affirm will be in consonance with the government line - in the Sandiganbayan and the Supreme Court – that the levy was public money.

The farmers lobbied for the executive order. President Arroyo began to study the matter. From out of left field, however, came an accusation that she was inclined to uphold the Oct. 28 deal because she stood to collect a P20-billion kickback from it. How that would be possible, given the deal’s requirement of separate audits by the government and a private firm, the accuser never explained.

Other farmers’ groups who felt left out of the deal found champions in Congress. Reps. Del de Guzman of the ruling Lakas, Rafael Nantes of LP, Etta Rosales of Akbayan and independent Ted Failon filed two parallel bills. One sought to declare the P130 billion as public money. The other sought to set up a trust fund that would benefit solely the coconut farmers. The bills were met with multipartisan praise as a major breakthrough in the final settlement of the P130-billion case.

Last Monday, Romulo again met with PCGG officials led by Haydee Yorac. Together, they mapped out their legal course of action. They would encourage the passage of the bills. At the same time, they would pursue their petition in the Supreme Court to have the amount declared as public fund; that’s why it’s called a levy in the first place.

As for the deal already signed last Oct. 28, President Arroyo imposed two conditions for approval through an EO: acknowledge the P57 billion as public money since it’s part of the P130 billion, and ensure that interest earnings would be solely for the benefit of coconut farmers.

It still leaves to be seen if the bills would sail smoothly through the House of Representatives and the Senate. PCGG and government lawyers have yet to prod the Supreme Court for an early resolution of their petition. But with all of them moving in the same direction, farmers can rest easy that a final solution is at hand.

The Supreme Court’s suspension of Sandiganbayan presiding justice Francis Garchitorena, for sitting on 341 petitions and resolutions, is also viewed by the PCGG as a positive sign. Yorac said they can wrap up the pending criminal and civil cases in two years, but some of her subs feel it could even be much sooner.

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